The season finale of "Smash" finally ended the months-long drama of "who will play the role of Marilyn Monroe?" And the winner is...with very little surprise...none other than "Miss Iowa," Karen Cartwright (applause, applause).
"Bombshell" relied on the strength of its musical performances, the excitement of live theater and the sheer vocal talent of Katherine McPhee, much like it has throughout the entire series.
I must be psychic!
While there is a lot to love about "Smash," a continuous pattern of predictability, however, continues to plague this otherwise quality program. You do not have to possess special psychic abilities to have foreseen several key plot lines in the final episode.
First of all, everything pointed to Karen snagging the coveted "Marilyn" role on day one. They played her as the beloved heroine, while Ivy was the tormented, vindictive diva. The audience will always root for the"good girl" to have her dreams come true, while the "bad girl" gets what's coming to her one day.
The other stories that you could see coming a mile away were Ivy "stealing" Karen's ring, only to use it as a pawn when she confesses she and Dev slept together. Also, Ms. Lynn, always the drama queen, reaches for the bottle of pills to drown her pain over losing the Marilyn gig (wow, what a "shocker"), and Ellis, the guy I vote as "most likely to become a serial killer," getting a most deserved axing from Eileen, after he revealed he was the one who tried to kill Rebecca.
A heart under all that arrogance
One of the highlights of "Bombshell" was Derek standing up to Eileen in defense of Karen, and that we actually got to see him show a semi-tender side, which is kind of endearing. You still can't trust this sleaze ball, but darling Derek may just have a heart under all that arrogance after all. When he told Karen "You're a star...and I do know about love," I almost wiped away a tear!
The other stand-out moments for me included the infectious and adorable song that Karen and the dancers performed called "I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl," and the long-awaited stage debut of Karen as Marilyn Monroe, which was simply stunning.
A few sweet memories
While tonight's season finale may not have been the best, most original show, nor did it thrill with unexpected twists and turns, it was fast-paced, well-produced and gave us a few sweet memories.
